


Remains of a Dream

by checkeredbow



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Blood, But nothing really outside of TG fandom standards, Characters may be a bit OOC, Gen, Gore, M/M, Pairings are there if you squint, it's more of a friendship thing, really hard, ymmv
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 17:38:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4314267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/checkeredbow/pseuds/checkeredbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unfortunately, no matter how much he hoped for a happy ending, this world would only give a tragedy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remains of a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY. Long author's note ahead. Read at your own free time!
> 
> 1\. Everytime I look at the number of fics for BnHA, I get sad. It's grown some, but there's still not enough! Why aren't there more, c'mon there's gotta be tons of fans out there! D: So I decided to write this. I love both BnHA and TG and I had wanted to write something with Shinsou in it. So this came to be.
> 
> 2\. Sorry about the OOC. I tried, but I this was the best I could come up with for BnHA characters in the TG universe at the moment. In the future, I hope to do a better job with Shinsou. He's such a good character...
> 
> 3\. Yea... So although this is a crossover, it's actually more of BnHA characters in TG universe. TG characters are mentioned at best. Halfway through writing this, I realized that there might be readers who aren't fans of both series and I tend to write as though the reader knows a character to some extent-- looks, personalities, canon relationships, etc. ...I tried to put some explanations here and there. There's really only a few background facts that needs to be known to understand the story:  
> a. Ghouls- they look like humans, but they are actually a different species that can't digest human food. The only things  
> they can eat is human flesh. And coffee.  
> b. CCG- the Commission of Counter Ghoul, they're the officers that keep the people safe. They hunt down and kill  
> ghouls.  
> c. Quinque- since ghouls are a lot stronger and more durable than humans, the only thing that cuts through their flesh  
> is a kagune. Quinques are weapons shaped out of steel made from a ghoul's kagune.  
> d. Kagune- a predatory weapon that comes out of a ghoul's back. There are many different forms and wiki can help  
> explain that better than I can.  
> 5\. Quirks- Superpowers!
> 
> Yes, I know I went a,b,c,d,5. I did that on purpose. Upon making this list, I also realized how many terms specific to TG there are... Welp, thanks for reading the author's note! Please enjoy the story!

The smell of blood was thick and heavy in the air and it took everything for Shinsou to not puke at the sight before him. Someone else had made the call to the cops and police tape was hastily put up around the area.

"Hey, kid! Get out of here!" the officer pulled at his arm, dragging him away from the scene, but Shinsou couldn't pull himself away from the sight. It was disgusting, he ought to turn away. But, somehow, it was mesmerizing as well.

Ghouls were terrifying.

 

 

"Shinsou... Shinsou...!"

Shinsou was creeping quietly through the alleyway with one eye closed. It was dark in there and he needed his eyes to adjust quickly. Otherwise, he might not live for very long. His right hand gripped tightly onto his briefcase. He couldn't make a mistake now--

"Shinsou! Shinsou!"

It was a soft whisper and Shinsou wasn't sure where it was coming from. Was it his partner? His mentor? What did they want--

"Oh my God, Shinsou, wake up!" the person hissed and Shinsou was rudely awakened by frantic shaking.

"What? Wha--"

"I'm so glad you made it back to the waking world, Mr. Shinsou," their English teacher glared at him as the class erupted into laughter. Beside him, Izuku was averting his eyes in apology for being unable to wake Shinsou up. "Well, you know the rules," the English teacher jerked his thumb to the left side of the blackboard. Written in the middle underneath the homework corner as the third class rule, _if you fall asleep, you must write a two page apology essay that includes what you were dreaming about. Be prepared to read it out loud the next day._ "Moving on," the teacher looked at his book again, "Mr. Midoriya, read the next paragraph."

"Y-Yes, sir," Izuku stuttered as he clumsily stood up. Shinsou wasn't sure how that boy managed to make everything he did look clumsy. Or rather, not clumsy, but nervous. The poor boy was shaking as he read the paragraph out loud.

"Good," the teacher said immediately after Izuku was done, "Next, Bakugou--"

Another troublesome person. Unlike Izuku who always shook uncontrollably, Bakugou was full of confidence. He kicked his seat back as he stood up and read the next paragraph loudly and quickly.

Thankfully for the teacher, the bell rang right after that. He wouldn't be able to deal with another strange reading of Kafka's _Metamorphosis_.

The students themselves were excited for the class to end. For most of them, it was the last class of the day. Only a few of them were unlucky enough to have a late schedule.

"Shinsou! You fell asleep again!" Izuku stated as they walked out of the classroom together.

"Yea," Shinsou answered as he rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn, "I didn't get a chance to rest last night."

Izuku frowned, "Just what are you doing? For as long as I've known you, you're always doing something late at night. You never answer my phone calls in the evening, either."

"I always tell you to call me before five."

"Why?" Izuku asked, "What do you do--"

"Stuff, okay? Now stop asking!" Shinsou cut him off. He probably said it too harshly. The hurt was evident on Izuku's face. "...Sorry," Shinsou mumbled, "I just... Need my own private life, okay?"

"..." Izuku didn't answer and turned away instead.

Shinsou frowned and considered calling out to him, _no, not right now. I've got a meeting today. I'll just apologize tomorrow_. With that in mind, he pulled out his cell phone and started texting the rest of his squad.

 

"The CCG doesn't normally enlist the help of little brats like you," the rank one investigator said, venomous envy in every syllable that came from his mouth, "You all just have some voodoo magic so they put you on a squad. Without that, you're nothing."

Shinsou rolled his eyes and looked away without responding as the five of them walked through the hallways of the CCG headquarters. The taunts weren't particularly new to him and he was quite used to it. So were the other three members of the squad.

Shouto Todoroki, Tsuyu Asui, and Tooru Hagakure.

The four of them have been in a squad together for about five months now. They've already solved two minor cases and participated in a raid. It was a pretty impressive record since they were all just second year high school students. Shinsou had been training for this since he started middle school, though.

However, that wasn't what made them special.

No, it was something the researchers coined their _quirks_. Superpowers, simply put. Upon finding them, the CCG wanted to put them to use immediately. Their young age was the only thing that prevented them from doing so. They were actually the second Quirk squad put into combat. The first Quirk squad were already in their twenties and making an impressive capture and kill record.

They finally arrived in front of the meeting room. The rank one investigator opened the door for them and let them in. Then, he disappeared back outside, muttering in annoyance of being treated like a secretary.

"It's people like them that make the CCG such a terrible place to work in," Hagakure huffed as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Just ignore them," Tsuyu suggested.

"I know, I know! I do, but it's still so annoying. What's there to be jealous about? I haven't been able to see my face since I was six!" Hagakure's quirk was invisibility. She was in charge of intel and infiltration missions. Shinsou often worked alongside her.

"So what's the assignment this time?" Todoroki asked, ignoring Hagakure's complaints. He was the only one of them capable of making a dent in a ghoul without a Quinque. And by dent, he either roasts them or turns them into a popsicle.

"Looks like we're focusing on a ghoul that's been feeding a lot in the twentieth ward," Tsuyu responded as she skimmed through the documents in the folder she had been given. She's a frog. That's what her quirk was. Gave her the abilities of a frog. ...Not too helpful at first glance, but she had heightened speed and an extra long tongue actually did come in handy more than once. Her specialty was in retrieval type missions. Missions where they had to get someone out of a dangerous situation quickly.

"There's not much information here," Hagakure said as she read through the first page.

Shinsou began reading it as well. No one has been able to see the face or mask of this ghoul. The only identification they had on it were the fluids left at the crime scenes. This ghoul also had a tendency to create a lot of wreckage whenever he was feeding. The surrounding buildings' walls were always full of dents and cracks.

Moving past the first page, Shinsou began to look at the pictures of the victims. He immediately scrunched his nose and tried to keep his imagination of how the victim must've died at bay. The ghoul never finished his meal. He only ate bits and pieces and left the rest there for weaker scavenging ghouls.

"He kills them by bashing their heads in after torturing them..." Todoroki mumbled, eyes narrowed in disgust, "Horrible."

"It says here they caught some ghouls scavenging on his kills," Shinsou noted.

"Is it pride?" Todoroki wondered out loud, "Why would he leave his food half finished like this? To say that he doesn't need it?"

"Maybe he's just generous," Hagakure shrugged.

"...I think of a lion, for some reason," Shinsou mumbled.

"Oh," Tsuyu piped up, "Cause like in The Lion King, Scar fed the hyenas scraps?"

"... Something like that?" Shinsou shrugged.

It was at that moment that the other squad they were working with walked in. They were all their senior in age so all of them stood up and bowed politely. Then they began to talk about the case and their collaboration.

It annoyed Shinsou that they treated the Quirk Squad with coldness. They were envious of their status, too. _Isn't the important thing to capture the ghoul and save lives?_ It annoyed him a lot.

 

"You didn't answer my calls again!" Izuku  complained the next day as Shinsou gathered his books from his locker. He couldn't stifle the yawn this time.

"Sorry, I messaged you this morning, though."

"This morning is too late! You're the one who's going to fail if you don't do well on the homework assignments!"

Shinsou sighed, "Right, sorry, Midoriya. I was busy last-- Oof!" Shinsou had turned to walk down the hall, but he had walked right into something-- _someone_. Despite standing a foot away, Shinsou could practically feel the panic emitting from Izuku. He knew right away who it was.

"Watch where you're going, you fucking nerds!" Bakugou yelled as he shoved Shinsou aside.

"G-G-Good morning, K-Kacchan--"

"I told you to fucking stop calling me that!"

"R-Right, s-sorry, K-Kac-- B-Baku-Baku--"

Bakugou rolled his eyes, "Whatever, just stuff it. Hearing you stutter like that fucking makes me sick." Bakugou shoved Izuku aside as well as he walked down the hall to his next class. Despite his delinquent looks and attitude, Bakugou was actually a good student.

Except for when he bullies anyone he deemed weaker than himself.

And when he picks fights with anyone who acted like they were stronger than him.

"Anyways, I didn't get a chance to do my homework so help me out in the back of class, alright, Midoriya--" Shinsou had walked ahead several feet before he noticed that Izuku wasn't following alongside him. "Midoriya?"

"Am I a pest to you?" Izuku asked and Shinsou's eyebrows shot up in surprise. This was... unexpected.

"Why are you suddenly asking..."

"Forget it!" Izuku laughed and walked past Shinsou, "Let's get to class. I'll help you out with the homework!"

Following Izuku, Shinsou made an important mental note to pay more attention to his friend from now on. Izuku was his only friend in high school. He deserved better than a friend who was constantly forgetting he had feelings.

 

Shinsou never planned to make any friends.

Ever since he saw that grisly scene caused by a ghoul in the sixth grade, he had made it his goal to join the CCG. Three months after that, he had been seeing a counselor that works for the CCG to help victims or those who had seen the horrifying results of ghoul attacks when he first discovered his quirk. It had come to him so naturally that he had thought it was a part of going through puberty.

He was wrong though, but luckily, there had already been documented quirks in the CCG database and were fairly well known by their employees. The counselor recognized what he was talking about by the second visit.

The following months were a flurry of papers and signatures and talks of preparation before Shinsou could actually start training to become a ghoul investigator. Now, four years later, he was finally a rank two investigator, propelled forward through the ranks thanks to his quirk. He knew he shouldn't be proud of it, lest he incur the wraths of all his senior coworkers, but he couldn't help it.

Whenever he stopped to think about it, Shinsou couldn't help but wonder if his reasoning was weak. He wanted to become an investigator simply because he had seen a horrible scene and wanted to prevent that from happening to others as much as possible. It seemed weak compared to his squad mates' reasons. They don't talk about their past very often, but Todoroki and Tsuyu both did not have any family to return to and Hagakure only had a mother.

However, it didn't seem like such a silly reason after he met Izuku.

Shinsou had made it through middle school without friends. He didn't reach out to anyone and everyone eventually stopped reaching out to him. He spent his lunch breaks reading books and his time after school training in one of the CCG's facilities. High school didn't seem like it would be any different from middle school.

"H-Hi!" for someone brave enough to make a greeting, the boy had been shaking like a leaf, "W-Would y-you mind m-me sitting h-h-h-he-" he stopped and took a breath, "W-would you mind me sitting h-here for lunch?"

Shinsou had a faint recollection that the boy sat two seats away from him in class. "Go ahead," Shinsou answered and returned to reading as the boy thanked him.

"I-I'm Iz-Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

Gosh, did this guy stutter his own name? What's wrong with him? He seemed like he was afraid of his own shadow, "Hitoshi Shinsou." He didn't say anything else and returned to his book. If he didn't finish reading the chapter for English class coming up next, he was going to be in trouble.

The next day, Izuku stopped at his table again. So did the rest of the week. And the rest of the month. Every time, he asked if he could sit with him and Shinsou would respond, "Yes." They didn't talk, though. Shinsou was always trying to catch up on one homework or another. One day, the cafeteria was crowded so Shinsou was forced find somewhere else to have lunch. He chose to go all the way to the rooftop. Twenty minutes later, Izuku found him and asked to sit with him.

That was when Shinsou had to ask, "Midoriya, why do you purposefully come to sit with me?"

"...Um!" Izuku froze mid bite of his apple and his ears turned pink.

 _...Adorable_ , Shinsou thought.

"I... I... w-wanted to b-be f-f-f-f-fri," his face had turned completely red now, "...friends."

"Oh."

"S-So, i-is th-that okay?"

"..." was it okay? Shinsou hadn't given making friends a thought since the sixth grade. However, they've already been sitting together for lunch for the past month now. ...Isn't that what friends do? "...Sure," he shrugged.

The grin that spread on Izuku's face was as bright as the sun, "Wow! Yay! We're friends!"

"You lost your stutter."

"...Oh!" Izuku's face turned red again, "W-Well, c-cause we're friends now. I feel more comfortable t-talking."

Shinsou couldn't help chuckling, "You're funny."

Since then, the two of them did nearly everything in school together. They walked to class together, ate lunch together, spent whatever little free time Shinsou had after school together. ...Shinsou had grown attached to him. Despite appearing meek and constantly stuttering, Izuku was a person with a powerful and stubborn will. After all, he never once gave up when Bakugou beat him up. Shinsou had to protect him several times.

(It would've been so much easier to use his quirk, but as a member of the _good_ , he wasn't allowed to.)

And once, Shinsou heard Bakugou make fun of him while he beat Izuku up.

"Hey, Deku! I'll leave you alone for the rest of the week if you stopped hanging around Shinsou!" Bakugou laughed with his buddies as Izuku rolled into a ball on the ground. Bakugou had kicked him in the stomach. "That guy gives me the creeps. I don't like seeing him with people."

Shinsou was about to run in to help Izuku when the smaller boy yelled, "You take that back!" Izuku had managed to stand up again, although hunched over slightly, "He's not creepy at all, Kacchan! And he's my friend! I won't leave him--"

"I told you not to call me that!" Bakugou yelled as he punched Izuku in the jaw.

Shinsou didn't have the time to be amazed at Izuku's bravery and loyalty. He had to run in and get him out of there before Bakugou put him in the hospital for months.

If someone really needed to hear a reason for hunting down ghouls, Shinsou would tell them, "Because I want to keep my best friend safe."

 

"We have an exam tomorrow, remember to study for it!" Izuku said as they parted ways for that afternoon.

"Yea. ...Help me out tomorrow after second period?" Shinsou suggested and Izuku let out a tired sigh before agreeing.

Shinsou hadn't gone half a block when someone grabbed him by the wrist-- someone? Shinsou turned to see nothing in the air. Had he been pulled by a ghost--

"It's me," Hagakure hissed into his ear.

"Hagakure, why are you naked?"

"I'm on the job!" she said with a huff, annoyed, "Anyways, you have your Quinque, right?"

"It's in my bag, why?"

"The Lion showed up again, duh!"

"...We're calling him Lion now?"

"Yea! Now hurry!"

 

The corpse was a wreck. They were at an overgrown lot at the edge of town. High above, vultures were already circling the dead body. The forensic scientists already there had drawn a chalk outline on the concrete.

"Disgusting..." Hagakure said from beside him. It looked as though every bone in the corpse's body had been broken. On top of that, the torso had been torn apart, uneaten guts strewn everywhere. The face had been chewed on, there were no distinguishable facial features anymore. They'd have to rely on bone structure and digital reimaging to find out who the victim was.

"I really hope the poor guy died before any of this was done to him," Tsuyu said.

"He did," Todoroki answered, "The scientists just found out that he first bled out from a cut in the neck before any of this happened."

"Strange," Shinsou mumbled, "What would be the point of wrecking a body like this after the person died?"

Tsuyu shrugged, "Don't question us, ghouls don't make any sense."

One of the scientists walked up to Todoroki, who was their squad leader, and handed him a clipboard with several pieces of paper attached to it. "Hmm," he bit down on his bottom lip as he studied the results. Shinsou was just surprised they were able to get meaningful results from equipment they had stored in a van.

"What is it? You look like you've seen a dinosaur in outer space," Hagakure said. Everyone turned to look at where her floating clothing were with confused looks on their faces, "Now all of you look like you've seen a dinosaur in outer space. So what is it, Todoroki?"

"There were two ghouls here. One is, as we expected, Lion. They also found fluids of a different ghoul present," Todoroki shrugged, "Of course, it may be a mistake in gathering the DNA. Maybe someone cut their knee or something near here, but... It is present."

"So the Lion and the Hyena?" Hagakure realized, "The main killer and then the scavenger who came to eat afterwards."

"Afterwards?" Shinsou questioned. Something about that didn't make sense to him, but he didn't have any theories other than a gut feeling.

The two squads decided to talk this over after more solid forensic results came in. There were lots to be examined after all. Besides, reports needed to be written just for this incident so they were all busy doing that on top of any schoolwork they might have to do as well.

"We should focus more on this case. That ghoul is still out there hunting people down and eating them," Shinsou grumbled.

"We can't really do anything without much information," Tsuyu spoke up as she flicked her tongue about.

"Then let's go gather some information, Hagakure!"

"Right, let me just waltz into Lion's hideout-- oh _wait_ , we don't know where that is yet!"

"Some ghoul establishment--"

"If we knew it existed, we'd already have raided it."

"It's a day off," Hagakure sighed, "Both of you boys work too hard. Just enjoy it for once." The two girls waved good bye and ran off ahead to catch a train. They may be investigators, but they're still too young to drive.

That left Shinsou with Todoroki. ...Who was already walking off in another direction. There wasn't even a point in trying to ask him to hang out. _Ah_ , the realization came as Shinsou pulled out his cell phone. He quickly pulled up his contact list and dialed his best friend. After three rings, the other end picked up.

"H-Hello?"

"Midoriya!"

"Shinsou?!" Izuku sounded shocked. Shinsou supposed that made sense. He had never called after school before. "Um, er--"

"Hey, who's that?" someone in the background asked. Shinsou furrowed his eyebrows. Had he caught Izuku at a bad time?

"No- No one!" Izuku said, his voice sounding distant like he had been holding the phone far away.

Now that was strange. Why would Izuku say he was "no one"? He felt a bit of hurt creep in. Who was with Izuku that would make him say he was "no one" to him?

"Give me the phone!" the other person said.

"Midoriya--"

"No!" and Midoriya's voice was suddenly loud and clear again, "Sorry Shinsou! I'll call you back in an hour or so."

 _Click_.

Shinsou knew he should've gone home already, but instead, he found himself wandering around the city with nothing to do. There was no way in hell he wanted to do his homework. ...He was far too used to doing that in between classes now. (Gotta live for that adrenaline rush.)

His feet brought him to a coffee shop. He didn't pay much attention as he sat down to order a cup, but he did notice that the sign he passed by outside read, ":re".

"One tall latte!" a pretty waitress called to the back. He heard the clink of glasses as he counted the number of customers in the shop.

A total of five, him included.

Three of them were watching him.

He supposed the bags under his eyes must've made him look extra creepy for a high school student. He did his best to ignore them.

An hour later, Shinsou was still sitting there sipping coffee and working on a crossword puzzle. He didn't feel any urge to go home until it was late since that's how late work usually took him.

_Bzz! Bzz!_

It was Izuku. Shinsou answered without any hesitation.

"Hey! Sorry about earlier!" he sounded like he was out of breath, "Wow, I never thought you'd call me!"

"Er... Well," suddenly, Shinsou didn't know what to say. He felt nervous and awkward and his tongue tied up.

"So... What's up?"

He might as well say it. He forced the words out of his mouth, "Do you want to hang out?!" The words sounded harsh and loud. The other customers in the cafe looked at him. He quickly averted his eyes and added, "...Tonight?"

There was a pause, then a cheerful, "Sure!"

"Great, where do you want to meet up?"

"It's pretty late, why don't I just come over to your place?" Shinsou suggested. He didn't want Izuku wandering out at night. Who knows what sort of bad things could happen to a frail guy like him.

Another pause, "Are you still out right now?"

"Yea, why?"

"Where are you?"

"A cafe?" why was Izuku asking? "What's the matter?"

"I can meet you there instead."

"Why? You're at home already, right?"

"N-No, I was actually out p-playing billards."

What's with the stutter? "Oh?"

"Yea, I'll meet up with you. Where you at?"

"A coffee shop called :re."

"Ah! I know where that is!" Shinsou could hear the smile in his friend's voice. "I'll be right there."

"Okay, I'll wait for you outside."

Shinsou hung up and stood up. He threw his briefcase into his school bag. Sure, it would've been more useful if he had it in his hand, but he didn't want Izuku to know. Knowing could put people in danger. Without another glance to the shop workers or customers, Shinsou walked out the door.

It was starting to get dark outside, the sky a pale blue. The streetlights were starting to turn on. Shinsou had just leaned against the side of the coffee shop when he heard a loud clatter come from the side street next to the shop.

"AHHH!! STOP! NO!" came the yells and Shinsou hurried to see what was going on.

He reached behind him to pull the briefcase out of his book bag and yelled, "CCG! Stop!"

"Huh?" there were two men standing before him. One was on the ground shaking in fear while the other stood slightly hunched, kagune sprouting from his lower back. "CCG?!" the ghoul's red eyes made contact with Shinsou's and he backed away slightly in shock.

 _Got him_ , Shinsou didn't even need to pull out his Quinque. The ghoul in front of him dropped to his knees as Shinsou walked up to him. The ghoul probably wasn't expecting anyone since he didn't have a mask on.

"Hey you," he said to the man on the ground who was looking at the scene with wide eyes.

"Hm--" he froze as well.

"Get out of here, go find a police station and explain what's going on," the man immediately stood up, despite his eyes being wide with fear and shock, and ran away from the scene as fast as he could.

"...Nngh!" the ghoul was struggling against Shinsou's control, but he had been training for four years with his quirk. It wasn't going to break free any time soon. Pulling out his phone, Shinsou sent a message to the headquarters.

"I've already put in a request for more officers. They'll be here soon to pick you up. But before then, I've got a few questions for you," Shinsou reached out and grabbed the ghoul by the hair, "Answer me to the best of your knowledge."

The ghoul didn't answer, only made more grunting sounds as he struggled to break free of Shinsou's control.

"Do you know anything about a ghoul that has been overhunting around these areas?"

"Which... nnghh... one...?"

"The one that smashes his victims up."

A laugh escaped from the ghoul before he stared at Shinsou with wide kakugan eyes again, "Hangs... around... junk... nnghh... yard..."

"The junkyard? Which one?"

"The one... --" the ghoul was suddenly knocked away from Shinsou. The ghoul's head smashed into a wall and was knocked out cold. Shit, there goes his interrogation.

"Strange," a new ghoul had landed in front of him, four Rinkaku tentacles sprouting out from his back and pointed directly at Shinsou, "I never expected him to rat information out so easily."

"I have ways of making people talk," Shinsou said, forcing a grin. Might as well do this as naturally as possible to put this ghoul under his trap. This new ghoul had a mask on. His hair was hidden under a hood that clung tightly to his head. It reminded him of Spiderman's mask except it left two open holes for his eyes. It then reached over and connected to a type of mouth guard that covered the rest of his face.

"..."

_Why isn't he answering?_

Without warning, the ghoul's kagune shot forward and pierced his briefcase. Shit! He was defenseless now!

Before Shinsou could react, the ghoul had rushed forward and slammed his whole body into him, knocking him off his feet. Shinsou flew several feet, losing his concentration and landing painfully on his back. "Aughh!" the world was spinning after he hit his head on concrete. He struggled to get up, to run, to get out of here. Back up would be here soon. He just needed to live till then.

A few seconds passed, but the ghoul didn't attack him. Steadying himself just as he heard sirens, Shinsou realized the ghoul was gone. Poof. He had taken the other ghoul with him as well.

_Why did he leave me alive...?_

As officers came to look at the scene and collect evidence, Shinsou sat on the back of an ambulance as nurses checked for injuries. He didn't have a concussion, thankfully. Just a bad bump on his head. That was when he remembered Izuku. He should've been here by now. Where was he? Was he in some sort of trouble?

Frantically, Shinsou pulled out his cell phone and checked for messages--

 _None_.

He could feel the panic rising. What if those two ghouls had gotten Izuku right before or after Shinsou ran into them?? What if Izuku was lying in a puddle of blood right now?! He quickly hit the call button and waited anxiously for Izuku to pick up.

After three rings, it jumped to voice mail.

Three rings. One ring meant his phone was off. Two rings meant Izuku was underground or at a place with bad reception. Three rings meant Izuku voluntarily did not pick up the phone.

Shinsou was about to try again when his phone buzzed with an incoming message.

_Shinsou! I'm so sorry! Something came up and can't make it there. I'm really, really sorry! I'm always bothering you to answer your calls, too... I swear I'll make it up to you next time!_

Shinsou let out a sigh of relief and texted a message back.

_It's fine. I'm glad you're alright. I'll be heading back to my place then._

Izuku didn't respond after that.

 

"Junk yards, huh?" Hagakure repeated as she looked at a map laid out on the table, "Well, there's only three of them in the city. Shouldn't take too long for me to check all of them out."

"Nice job," Tsuyu complimented, "Too bad we couldn't keep the guy for interrogation, though."

Todoroki nodded in agreement, "And next time, have your weapon out and ready."

"R-Right..." he had a replacement for now, but his original Quinque was being repaired at the moment. If it can be repaired.

"By the way, the forensic report came back," Todoroki said as he passed out a folder to each of his squad members, "Nothing really new. Same information as we had before."

Shinsou flipped through the pages. Something still felt odd. Their meeting disbanded and he kept this in his thoughts as he walked back to his cubicle. Waking his computer up from sleep mode, he started looking up some old case files.

 

"I thought something was strange," Shinsou reported to Todoroki as the two of them waited for the coffee to finish brewing in the small break area on their floor. "In all the other cases involving Lion, they were all tortured before being killed."

"So the killer this time was Hyena."

"Right, but why in the world would the Lion let the Hyena kill? Hyena picks up scraps from the Lion."

"Hmph," there was a slight smirk on Todoroki's face, "Lion and Hyena are just names that Hagakure gave them. Their actual relationship may not be like that of a predator and scavenger."

"So the 'Lion' who usually hunted and tortured his victims alone brought along a companion 'Hyena' this time. Before 'Lion' could start the torture, 'Hyena' killed the victim first."

"It would make sense."

"How many ghouls are we dealing with?" Shinsou mumbled uncertainly, "Will Hagakure be okay?"

"She's good at what she does. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"So in comparison to 'Lion', this 'Hyena' ghoul is... merciful?" Shinsou wondered as the coffee finished brewing and he poured a cup for himself. He took a sip and immediately made a face of disgust.

"Not to your liking, Shinsou?" Todoroki teased as he took a gulp of his own cup. Likewise, he made a face as well. "Okay, this brand tastes pretty weird."

"Yea, pass me the milk. And like twenty packs of sugar, please. Who was in charge of stocking the coffee this week?"

 

The next day, Hagakure texted them her first destination and left on the infiltration mission on her own. On some cases, Shinsou would go with her, but this was not one of those cases. They didn't know the number of enemies they might be facing and he had a limit to how many people he could control at a time. So while the thought of Hagakure going out alone was anxiety inducing, there wasn't much he could do about it.

"I-I'm s-so s-sorry about y-yesterday!" were the first words that came out of Izuku's mouth the moment they saw each other.

"It's alright," Shinsou reassured him as they stepped into the school, "There will be other days when I'm free." In all honesty, he was rather relieved that Izuku _didn't_ come. He would've put the boy in danger.

"W-Would that r-really b-b-be the c-case?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe," they reached their lockers and Shinsou twisted the lock to his combination. The locker clicked open and he grabbed the notebooks he needed for the day, "...Why are you stuttering so much?"

That seemed to catch Izuku off guard because he stared up at Shinsou with wide eyes. "Um, I-I-I'm not..." he realized himself that his stutter came out, "Just... just n-nervous, I g-guess?"

"What for? I already told you yesterday was no problem."

"I... Um..." Izuku averted his eyes, "Hey, S-Shinsou?"

"What?"

"Just what do you do after school?"

Why was he asking again all of a sudden, "...Stuff."

"What sort of stuff? We're friends right, can't you tell me?" Izuku leaned in towards Shinsou and the taller boy stumbled back slightly. He felt his cheeks turn red. Izuku was definitely way too close.

"Just... stuff, you know?" Shinsou made an awkward attempt to shrug and averted his eyes.

"Shinsou--" Izuku suddenly stopped, reeled back like he just realized he was approaching a boundary the he couldn't cross. He looked away with an expression like he was on the brink of tears.

"Midoryia, I--" Shinsou was cut short by his phone ringing. Recognizing the tone that he had assigned to this specific group of people, he quickly excused himself to answer it. Running off without waiting for a response, Shinsou ducked into the nearest boys' bathroom. He didn't see anyone in there. Immediately, he went into a stall and locked it.

"Hagakure," he said, picking up, "Why are you calling, I thought you were on an infiltration mission."

"Infiltration, huh?"

Shinsou nearly dropped the phone. The person on the end was a male. What happened?! Why did he have Hagakure's phone? Hagakure's invisible so there's a chance that she could've just dropped it and a person at the junkyard simply picked it up. Shinsou swallowed, no need to jump to conclusions yet. "Who is this?" he asked, "This is my friend's phone and we're playing a game. If you could return it to them, that'd be appreciated."

The person on the other end laughed and for a moment, Shinsou thought he sounded familiar, "A game? That sounds fun. Mind if I take her place?"

 _Her_. Shinsou hadn't mentioned Hagakure's gender once. He didn't know how, but these people had gotten their hands on Hagakure.

"Oi, hurry up! I want to take a bite of invisible flesh!" Shinsou heard in the background.

He felt his entire body freeze up as he heard muffled female screams from the phone. The ghoul was definitely taunting him, but he couldn't help it, "You fucking bastards! If you harm one hair on her head, I'll fucking kill all of you ghouls!" he yelled on the top of his lungs.

The ghoul on the other end laughed again and there was the sound of something being smashed. He heard the sounds of Hagakure's muffled screaming again and he was about to yell out another threat when the ghoul started talking again, "Normally, I'd be pretty keen on eating a CCG officer, but she's kinda interesting. And so are you."

"Me?"

"Yea, I heard all about you."

"..." how? Shinsou thought back to the ghouls he let escape yesterday. For sure they were part of this ghoul's gang-- the ghoul they called Lion, but none of them should know his name. Yet, Lion knew to call him.

"I heard you've got some strange mind control thing going on, that right?"

"..." the best choice here would be to simply not answer.

"I'd start talking if I were you," Shinsou heard the sounds of panicked muffled screams again, this time much closer to the phone. Lion was threatening her as they talked on the phone.

"It's..." Shinsou swallowed, "You could be threatening anyone. How do I know that's Hagakure?"

The call suddenly ended and before Shinsou had the chance to even curse, his phone buzzed with an incoming message. He quickly opened it up to find that it was a picture of a girl covered in blue paint tied to a chair with duct tape. She was awake and looked as though she had been struggling free, screaming even, but her mouth had been taped shut.

Hagakure was invisible, but it wasn't as though she wasn't there. All they needed to see her was to pour some colored liquid on her. And that's what they did. They had done it head first so that was where most of the paint was, but it had also dripped down to her shoulders and a few globs made it past her waist. There were also bits of red here and there across her forehead, arms, chest and legs. There was still a fresh head wound and he was sure that he'd see bruises on her if it wasn't for her invisibility.

Shinsou swallowed and moved to call the rest of the squad, however, a second message alerted him, "Call back within fifteen seconds or she dies." That wasn't enough time to alert anyone. He quickly called back.

"What do you want to know?"

"What are you?"

"A human."

"Humans can't fucking control people with their brains. What the fuck did the CCG do to you? They fucking operated on your brain or something?"

"The CCG didn't do anything to me. I was born like this."

"Fucking shit," the ghoul sounded pissed. It made Shinsou a little happy, "Why the fuck do you even bother working for that shitty CCG anyways? You could do whatever the fuck you want with a power like that."

"I wanted to get rid of all ghouls," simple as that.

"Well, shit, I guess that dream of yours ends here. I'm curious about you, but I'd rather not sentence myself to death," the ghoul hung up.

Shinsou immediately unlocked the door. No doubt the ghouls were on the move to somewhere else now. He needed to contact the rest of the squad, track Hagakure down. Save her--

The door swung open and Midoriya stood in front of him.

"M-Midoriya--"

"So you're a CCG officer."

"I--" Shinsou was panicking, but Izuku was strangely calm about this fact. He looked a little disappointed, even, "What--"

"Ha," it was a forced laugh, "Well, it all makes sense now!"

"Look, Midoriya, I'll explain another time--"

"Your friend is in trouble, right? Let's go save her, then."

"What are you saying--"

"You're only going to waste time trying to convince me to stay!" Izuku reached out to grab onto Shinsou's arm. He felt electricity fly through him at the contact, "Let's go!"

"Shit..." he looked at Izuku in the eye, "Stay here!"

"..." Izuku stared back. Why wasn't he answering? Shinsou tried to shake his arm free, but Izuku's grip was surprisingly strong. Was his best friend always this strong?

"Crap, okay, come on!" the moment the boy answered him, he was going to make him stay put, best friend or not. To his surprise, however, Izuku didn't say a single word to him. They ran through the hallways and out of the school. Shinsou was quickly calling various coworkers while Izuku kept pace running beside him quietly.

"I'll be at the junkyard as soon as I can," Todoroki told him.

"They're on the move, but they haven't found Hagakure's GPS, yet," Tsuyu said, "I can track her and relay you the information and meet with you there."

The moment they got outside of the school, a car was waiting for them. Thankfully, even the other squad they were working with realized the important of both squads being on the battlefield. "Who's he?" the driver asked as Shinsou got into the front seat

"Well..."

"Well, what?" the driver asked, pissed, but that was his mistake. "...!!!" he glared at Shinsou, "You... little... shit!"

Shinsou rolled his eyes, "Drive us to the junkyard! Safely!"

 

The moment they got to the junkyard, Shinsou and Izuku practically jumped out of the car. Rather than releasing their driver from his control, Shinsou took his Quinque from the trunk and gave him one last command, "Drive safely back to headquarters, get another Quinque, then come back here."

"I'll get you for this, you little fucker!" he yelled at Shinsou as the two of them ran away from the car.

"Tsuyu, can you hear me?" Shinsou spoke into the headset he also stole from the driver.

"Yup," she responded, "It seems like they still haven't quite escaped yet. They're at the far end of the junkyard. I think they're leaving from the back."

"Where's Todoroki?" from the corner of his eye, he saw that Izuku was keeping up with him without breaking a sweat.

"He just arrived at the entrance. I'll be there in a few minutes, too." she had just finished speaking when a ghoul leaped out from one of the piles of garbage and extended a claw like kagune out to pierce through Shinsou's chest. Reacting quickly this time rather than relying on his quirk, Shinsou pulled out his Quinque, an axe shaped weapon, and blocked it.

The sound of steel clashing against steel rang out and Shinsou leaped backwards before charging ahead and slicing at the ghoul's kagune. Like a good Quinque, it sliced right through it and the ghoul cried out in pain. Behind him, he heard Izuku let out a shocked gasp. Rather than focusing on Izuku, however, Shinsou lifted the axe up again, ready to kill the ghoul--

"Wait!" Izuku yelled.

Shinsou hesitated and the ghoul shot forward, jumping up to take a bite out of Shinsou's neck. Shinsou let out a cry of pain and dropped the Quinque as Izuku dashed forward and tackled the ghoul, breaking him away from Shinsou.

"Midoriya!" Shinsou watched as the ghoul aimed the remaining half of its kagune at Izuku. "...Shit!" the wound on his neck stung and he struggled to pick up the axe and attack again when the ground suddenly turned to ice.

The ice froze upward and around the ghoul, stopping all of his movements. Seeing what happened, Izuku got up and caught his breath. He turned to look at the newcomer with wide eyes.

"Todoroki!"

"Who is this?"

"Uh... We don't have time for this! We need to find Hagakure!"

"...How did you do that?" Izuku asked with amazement in his voice. He was looking at Todoroki with awe and wonder. ...Shinsou felt annoyed.

"Same way I do mind control, now let's go!" he grabbed Izuku by the arm and started pulling him through the maze of the junkyard.

"Will that ghoul be okay?"

"Normally, I'd stab it through the heart or something, but we don't have time for that."

"Stab... through the heart?"

Shinsou shrugged, "Gotta make sure they stay down somehow."

"..." Izuku looked away and didn't respond.

As they continued through the junkyard, more ghouls showed up. Shinsou had no problem using the axe to slice and dice his way through them while Todoroki froze any that approached him. Izuku stood behind the two of them so didn't get attacked very often. At one instance, a ghoul had snuck up behind them and grabbed Izuku by the neck. He held on tight, ready to choke the boy.

"Got you!" the ghoul laughed.

"Hnk...!" Izuku struggled to breathe as the chokehold became tighter. Shinsou was already rushing towards them and Todoroki looked as though he was deciding how to take down the ghoul without hurting Izuku.

"...Ah!" the ghoul's grip slackened and Izuku quickly flipped forward, sending the ghoul headfirst into the ground.

"Freeze him, _now_!" he yelled at Todoroki, who didn't need to be told twice to do so.

"You okay?" Shinsou asked as he ran forward to check for injuries on Izuku.

"I'm fine!" Izuku grinned, "Let's hurry!"

"Right!"

The two of them ran ahead, Todoroki joining them soon afterwards. _That ghoul..._ he shook his head. It had probably just gotten hurt earlier at some other point. That would explain the wound on its stomach before he froze it.

 

"They've left the junkyard, but they haven't gotten very far," Tsuyu met up with them at the entrance opposite the junkyard.

"Lead the way," Todoroki said and Tsuyu nodded, leaping forward at a fast pace down several streets and into backstreets. Shinsou felt like he would easily get lost in here.

They must be on the right track because they ran into ghouls every now and then. "We're almost to where they are!" Tsuyu said just as she was suddenly pulled out of sight by someone in the shadows.

"Tsuyu!"

There were sounds of struggle before a ghoul came running towards them with Tsuyu riding on its head. "Two rights, a left, and then head straight!" she yelled at them, "I'll join you guys as soon as I finish this one off-- woah!" The ghoul changed direction and dragged Tsuyu off somewhere else.

Izuku made to go after her, but Todoroki held him back, "You're not going to be much help. She can manage on her own."

"But--"

"Stick with us," Todoroki ordered and he took off running according to the directions Tsuyu had given him.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at a dead end. Hagakure was nailed with her hands above her head to the wall in front of them. There was just enough paint on her to make out her outline on the wall.

"Hagakure!" Shinsou yelled as he ran forward. He screeched to a stop as a ghoul jumped down from one of the surrounding buildings to in front of him.

"Slow down, there," it was the ghoul he had talked with on the phone, 'Lion'. His mask covered his eyes and nose, but left his mouth for the world to see. The mask looked as though it was made of leather and tied behind his head like a bandanna, "I wouldn't rush to death if I were you."

Shinsou lifted the axe and swung it towards Lion, "Up yours!"

"Asshole!" Lion's kagune popped out from his back and sent a mountain of projectiles at the three of them. Shinsou immediately brought the axe down in front of him to protect himself. He hoped the other two managed to get to safety.

"Got you!" Shinsou grinned as he saw Lion's movement halt, "Now go let Hagakure down!" he turned to face his companions, "We won--"

Shinsou's eyes widened at the scene before him.

Todoroki was lying on the ground unmoving. There weren't any pools of blood around him, but Shinsou was far too shocked to even notice that.

Tentacles sprouted from Izuku's back, his eyes turned black and red. One of the tentacles was unwrapping itself from Todoroki, "You know, you're not supposed to respond to him. That's how he gets you."

"M-Midoriya?!"

"Is that so? You could've fucking told me that earlier, you piece of shit nerd!"

Shinsou realized why the voice had sounded so familiar on the phone, "...Bakugou?"

"Aww shit, looks like the fucker finally guessed my identity. Look at what you did, Deku."

"..." Izuku was watching Shinsou, who couldn't pull away from staring at his best friend. "I really didn't want it to be like this," he whispered just before a tentacle shot forward, ready to pierce through Shinsou.

Shinsou thought he was going to die, but at the last moment, he felt a pull from his waist and he flew through the air. "What are you doing standing around?!" Tsuyu yelled at him, her words a bit fuzzy due to having her tongue out, "Snap out of it! There are two ghouls in front of you--"

Bakugou had run up and punched Tsuyu in the jaw, causing her to let go of Shinsou with her tongue. He dropped to the ground on his back and rolled a few feet away. Less than half a second later, he heard a crash and realized that Tsuyu had been sent flying into a wall. From the corner of his eye, he saw her standing up again to engage in a fight with Bakugou.

A tentacle came flying towards his head and he reflexively rolled away to avoid being skewered. Sitting up, he saw Izuku walking towards him with four tentacles out and pointed at Shinsou. "...You're the one I saw last night," he realized.

"..." Izuku nodded with pain reflected in his eyes.

"How? Why?" Shinsou looked at the ground, digging his nails against it, "This whole time, I was just food that you were playing around with?"

Izuku stood still a few feet away from him. When he didn't do anything, Shinsou dared to look up. Izuku was looking down at him, the same pain present on his face. --Were those even tears he saw in the corner of the ghoul's eyes?

Anger flared up inside of Shinsou. Izuku had been _lying_ to him! This entire time, he was tricking Shinsou to be his next meal and he was going to _cry_ about it? No! If anyone should be crying, it should be Shinsou! "Aaargghh!" Shinsou grabbed the axe that was lying a few feet away from him and stood up, charging up against the still stunned Izuku.

"Ah...!" Izuku broke from his trance too late. The axe was right above his head.

At the last moment, however, Izuku was shoved aside and Bakugou had stopped the axe in its path with his kagune. He had a gash right above his right eyebrow and blood was dripping down the right side of his face. It looked like Tsuyu had done a number on him. "Jackass!" Bakugou yelled as he prepared to launch a flurry of crystals at Shinsou. Seeing this, Shinsou leapt backwards and hid behind the axe again, sustaining only a few cuts by the time the shower was over.

"Nngh!" Shinsou peeked over the axe to see that Bakugou had dropped to his knees, gasping for air. Looks like he was reaching his limit as an Ukaku.

"Kacchan!" Izuku rushed over to Bakugou's side and blocked an attack from Tsuyu's whip like Quinque.

"Fuck off, Deku! I can fend for myself and I told you not to call me that!"

"Let's go, Kacchan!" he blocked another attack from Tsuyu as he pulled Bakugou up. Just as Shinsou was about to charge with another attack, he made eye contact with Izuku. That same pained look was on his face, like he was about to cry. Shinsou's feet slowed to a stop. He saw Izuku knock Tsuyu away on the stomach, sending her flying to another wall. This was too much for her, the injuries she had sustained from fighting Bakugou was no joke. She was out cold.

All that's left was Izuku and Shinsou.

And Shinsou couldn't move his feet.

With one last look at him, Izuku turned away, picking a passed out Bakugou up and over his shoulder, he ran off, gone at an incredible speed.

 

Todoroki tossed the stack of papers on the table in annoyance, letting it land with a loud smack. He had only a few light injuries compared to the rest of the team. A few bandages covered his arms and face, but both him and Shinsou were doing much better than the girls of their squad. "Why'd you bother giving me this report, Shinsou?" he asked. As the squad leader, he was in charge of some of the more tedious things. One of his jobs was to collect reports, fix them, then write his own. It was a pain in the ass.

"It's what happened," Shinsou replied with a straight face as he leaned back against his chair. They were sitting in :re, relaxing in the calming aroma of coffee. Their briefcases sat beside them on the ground, looking innocent and deadly. There were always dark circles under Shinsou's eyes, but today they look worse than usual. A weekend wasn't enough to sleep off the whole ordeal.

"You're telling me," Todoroki rolled his eyes, "That you basically just let the two of them escape?! You could've killed them at that point!"

"I know."

Todoroki let out a groan, "How am I supposed to report this?" The squad leader went on to grumble something else inaudibly while Shinsou stopped paying attention and looked out the window instead.

Finally, Todoroki pushed back against the chair and stood up, "I'm not very keen on getting chewed out about this so I'm going to have you explain everything to Sasaki at the next meeting."

"Sure," Shinsou answered as Todoroki said thanks and goodbye to the pretty waitress at the counter. He leaned back and closed his eyes, not bothering to pay attention. He did hear the bell at the door ring so Todoroki must've left.

"Is everything okay?"

Shinsou opened his eyes to see the waitress looking at him with a smile.

"Yea," he frowned, unable to find the energy to smile back, "Had a tough week."

"In that case, today's coffee break is on us, okay?" she set down a new cup along with some tasty looking pastries on his table.

"What?! No, I couldn't possibly--"

The waitress leaned down and whispered, "Actually, a guy earlier stopped in just to pay for you." With that, she walked away. Confused, Shinsou looked down at the food in front of him. There was a note scribbled quickly on a napkin in a distinct and familiar handwriting that made Shinsou feel as though he had been stabbed in the heart.

_I'm sorry for everything._

Jumping up, Shinsou ran outside, leaving bookbag, reports, and briefcase behind. It was rush hour, everyone had just gotten off of work and there was a giant crowd in front of him. Shinsou looked left and right, but all he saw was a sea of unfamiliar faces.

"IZUKU!" he yelled and just as he did so, he saw a boy in a hoodie look directly at him from across the street.

A car passed by and he was gone.

 

"Stupid," Bakugou growled as he tore a piece of flesh off the bone with his teeth. There was blood everywhere, but he didn't care. He was a sloppy eater and proud of it. "If you liked that pathetic and boring life so much, you shouldn't have come to save me."

Izuku shrugged. He sat in the corner of the shed with his hoodie up and his head buried in his arms. He didn't want to talk. Especially not with Bakugou. He wanted to cry. But he didn't want to cry in front of Bakugou.

"You know," Bakugou sighed as he sat down in front of the bloody corpse, "The next time the two of you meet again, you're definitely going to be tearing each other's fucking throats out."

 

 

"I know."

**Author's Note:**

> the end.  
> I don't think I can write a continuation, the idea of making two once best friends fight to the death is just a bit too much :(  
> I do want to write some more about other relations, though. ...Like between Izuku and Bakugou or between all of the Quirk Squad members in this AU.  
> ...PLOT BUNNIES STOP JUMPING AROUND!


End file.
